Getting started with Poland research

Welcome to the Poland page! FamilySearch Wiki is a community website dedicated to helping people throughout the world learn how to find their ancestors. Through the Poland page you can learn how to find, use, and analyze Polish records of genealogical value. The content is variously targeted to beginners, intermediate, and expert researchers. The Poland Page is a work in progress, your contributions and feedback are essential!

Featured Content

Polish vital records are becoming available online. However, there is no central online repository for these records. Use Księgi parafialne (Polish for “Church Books”) Portal to check availability of Polish records online. This Polish site lists, by province, every town that has vital records and/or indexes available online and links are included to get you there. As such, this site is only helpful once you’ve discovered the name of the town from which your ancestors came. Most of the websites are in Polish.

Jurisdictions

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Extraction Projects

Extensive extraction of Catholic Church records for the parishes of Medrzechow, Kupienin and Samocice, Poland have been completed and are available. For more information see the Polish Parish Extraction Project page.

Facebook Page

Because the Research forums are no longer available for help, be aware that FamilySearch has Facebook pages for this country that you should consider when doing your research:

Here you can help others, post your questions and look for answers and helpful links, as well.

News and Events

Finding records of your ancestors, Poland 1808 to 1900 is a color publication showing how to find records of a family who lived in Poland from 1808 to 1900. It tells you which records to use and how to search them. It also introduces you to the research tools you will need. A case study illustrates each step of the research process.